WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) – Hearings on the attack on the US Capitol in 2021 by supporters of Donald Trump will shed light on the testimonies of top aides and the former president’s family as a congressional committee seeks to show the riot was, as its chairman put it, “a conspiracy to thwart the will of the people.”
After nearly a year of investigation, the House of Representatives elected committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack enters a new phase Thursday with a prime-time hearing that will include videotaped testimonies from senior Trump White House and campaign officials, they said. associates of the commission.
The hearing is scheduled for 20:00 EDT (2400 GMT).
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“January 6 and the lies that led to the uprising have jeopardized two and a half centuries of constitutional democracy,” said Democratic Representative Benny Thompson, chairman of the commission, in excerpts from his introductory statement before the hearing.
“The conspiracy to thwart the will of the people is not over,” Thompson added. “There are people in this country who crave power but have no love or respect for what makes America great: devotion to the Constitution, loyalty to the rule of law, our shared journey to build a better union.
After leaving office last year, Trump maintains false claims that his loss in the 2020 election by Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud, a claim that has been rejected by many courts, government officials and members of his own administration.
Trump’s close associates who spoke with the commission include his son Donald Jr., his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, former Attorney General William Barr and senior aides to the former vice president.
Trump, who is publicly flirting with another White House administration in 2024, dismissed the commission in a statement Thursday as “political thugs.”
Two personal witnesses will be present at the hearing, US Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in the attack, and Nick Quested, a director who shot footage of the far-right Proud Boys group accused of plotting the deadly attack. attack. Read more
A total of six hearings are expected this month as the Democrat-led committee seeks to reverse Republican efforts to downplay or deny the violence of the attack, with five months left until the Nov. 8 by-elections to determine which party controls both houses. and the Senate for the next two years. Read more
The pro-Trump mob was trying to stop Congress from claiming Biden’s victory by attacking police and causing millions of dollars in damage. Four people died on the day of the attack, one was fatally shot by police and the others by natural death. More than 100 police officers were injured and one died the next day. Four police officers later committed suicide.
The Commission wants to highlight the case not only because January 6 was planned with the cooperation of members of Trump’s inner circle, but that there is a constant threat to American democracy.
“As I said, when this happened and followed, I think it is a clear, gross violation of the Constitution,” Biden told reporters on Thursday. “I think these boys and women broke the law, tried to reverse the election results.
INSPECTED THROUGH PARTISAN LENS
A Reuters / Ipsos poll released Thursday highlighted the guerrilla lens through which many Americans view the attack.
About 55 percent of Republicans believe the false claim that left-wing protesters led the attack, and 58 percent say they believe most protesters are obeying the law.
A Republican candidate for governor of Michigan was arrested on Thursday on charges of involvement in the January 6 uprising. Read more
Two officials in Georgia’s Republican election, whom Trump has sought to pressure to “find” votes to undo his electoral defeat, will testify at the hearings later this month, a source said. Read more
The major television networks NBC, CBS and ABC plan to broadcast the hearing live, but Fox News, a favorite of Trump supporters, will not broadcast it on its main channel.
The committee has two Republican members, Liz Cheney, its vice chairman, and Adam Kinsinger.
Some Republicans in Congress condemned Trump in the first days after the attack, but since then almost all have changed their tone.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday called the committee a “smokescreen” for Democrats to push through dramatic changes to voting laws. “This is the most political and least legitimate commission in American history,” he said.
When Republicans controlled Congress, there were at least 10 investigations into the 2012 attack on US diplomatic sites in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four people. The inspections and hearings continued for most of the next four years and were used as a political stick against then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as she unsuccessfully ran for president against Trump.
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Report by Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan; Additional reports by Linda So, Trevor Hanik Kanishka Singh and Jason Lange; Edited by Will Dunham, Scott Malone, Andy Sullivan and Alistair Bell
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